Yakwe Commits | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Yakwe Commits

2Infinity said:
Politely disagree here. Based on what Yakwe did the last two seasons, I can't imagine Hurley bringing him on board for one season UNLESS he felt he could extract something more from Yakwe than he delivered at SJU! Otherwise, why not let the present guys develop further for one more season? I believe in Hurley's eyes, Yakwe brings something to the court that we just don't have on our current roster. This is a good and very inexpensive (1 yr scholly) "gamble".
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I don’t entirely disagree with this. He Brings us something we need and best case he improves with a new coach a a change of scenery, but it’s a short term investment to fill what is clearly the weakest element in the team.
 
Yakwe came to St John's with a big rep and under the impression that in 2-3 years the kid was going to be pro bound
He started slow, gained some speed with a few good performances then fell apart. Some say it was because the Johnnies brought in more mobile scorers who demanded more time, some say it was Yakwe's attitude and work ethic. Who knows but to the kid's benefit we hear a lot of that crap coming out of St Johns lately.
I feel he is a good pick-up for one reason - he will help Dan Hurley buy some time in working with the rest of the bigs and he can be serviceable against some of the bigger opponents with his reach, etc.
He is by no means going to be a 15/10 guy but if he comes in ready to battle he will help
This is not a case where UConn beat anybody of note out for this guy - Dan Hurley can offer some quality PT and the best thing is that Yakwe is a one year lease.
 
Yakwe was actually second on SJU in +/- on a per minute basis.

Definitely some small sample size noise present, but compare it to our end of bench bigs (Williams, DO, Cobb) who were the worst on the team in this category this season.
 
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4xChamps said:
We have any St Johns BBall experts on this board? I'm wondering why the dropoff from his freshman year? Hopefully it's a coaching thing and Hurley can get the best out of him
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I have seen him play a lot. 1 year? sure why not? He can grab a rebound maybe and he can certainly block a shot. One thing I know is that UConn will play hard and they will need bodies.

He is limited on offense though, he has terrible hands. He was pretty much a non factor in every game PC played against them.
 
Seems like a solid rim defender - more athletic but less capable than Carlton of the offensive side. I can't wait to see Whaley and Yakwe flying around and blocking shots.
 
UConnStats said:
Yakwe was actually second on SJU in +/- on a per minute basis.

Definitely some small sample size noise present, but compare it to our end of bench bigs (Williams, DO, Cobb) who were the worst on the team in this category this season.
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I'm seeing his Box Plus/Minus at .3 per 100 possessions which is 7th best on the team from last year. Where are you getting that number from?
 
Sphinx said:
I'm sorry, but I look at the resumes of Smith and Yakwe and I see next year's Anderson and next year's Onourah. The resemblance, even physically, is uncanny. In the case of Yakwe and Onuorah, there's even the mystery of why these guys all but disappeared after their freshman year. We all have high hopes for Dan Hurley, but so far it has resulted only in a trade of Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas for Adams, Smith and Yakwe. Yikes! As I said before, an awful lot of blind trust is being asked for here.
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Apology accepted
 
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Sphinx said:
I'm sorry, but I look at the resumes of Smith and Yakwe and I see next year's Anderson and next year's Onourah. The resemblance, even physically, is uncanny. In the case of Yakwe and Onuorah, there's even the mystery of why these guys all but disappeared after their freshman year. We all have high hopes for Dan Hurley, but so far it has resulted only in a trade of Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas for Adams, Smith and Yakwe. Yikes! As I said before, an awful lot of blind trust is being asked for here.
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How about giving him a chance. He took over late so most recruiting was done. I think he is doing pretty good and involved with alott of good recruits.
 
tower1 said:
How about giving him a chance. He took over late so most recruiting was done. I think he is doing pretty good and involved with alott of good recruits.
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You are 100% right. But just keep in mind that watching David O playing so many minutes has traumatized some of us.
 
I would have preferred to get another guard or small forward who can shoot. He seems like a worst version of Diarra and a little bit of a reach. I think we have enough limited players up front and didn’t need to get another one. I liked the guards we got and hope it is true that Dan Hurley is still recruiting for ‘18. That could mean it we might lose one of those limited up front players to one who has skills and can score and shoot the ball. If that is the case I won’t feel as bad about this pickup.
 
Pgh2Storrs said:
Assuming Carlton and Diarra are penciled in at the 4 and 5 spots, it will be interesting how KW and Whaley's roles shake out with Yakwe aboard.

I think it's very clear that Hurley/the staff want guys who are a bit more physically mature.
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His dad even mentioned when his son was hired that he thought the team looked small. Its about time we get some players with some meat on their bones. Maybe they can even rebound.
 
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Quite frankly, it’s played out as I expected. Get two one year guys and a Fr and focus on very good/elite talent for 2019/2020. Dan’s created a base to show improvement next year coupled with improved S&C and culture. For 2019/2020 he starts brining in top talent. A reclass would be exception to the rule. With Adams and Vital leaving after next season lots of shot attempts to recruit for.
 
Sphinx said:
I'm sorry, but I look at the resumes of Smith and Yakwe and I see next year's Anderson and next year's Onourah. The resemblance, even physically, is uncanny. In the case of Yakwe and Onuorah, there's even the mystery of why these guys all but disappeared after their freshman year. We all have high hopes for Dan Hurley, but so far it has resulted only in a trade of Akinjo, Matthews and Kisunas for Adams, Smith and Yakwe. Yikes! As I said before, an awful lot of blind trust is being asked for here.
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Right now, in Hurley we trust!
 
Chief00 said:
Quite frankly, it’s played out as I expected. Get two one year guys and a Fr and focus on very good/elite talent for 2019/2020. Dan’s created a base to show improvement next year coupled with improved S&C and culture. For 2019/2020 he starts brining in top talent. A reclass would be exception to the rule. With Adams and Vital leaving after next season lots of shot attempts to recruit for.
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VItal is only a junior next year. Do you know something the rest of us don't?
 
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Chief00 said:
Quite frankly, it’s played out as I expected. Get two one year guys and a Fr and focus on very good/elite talent for 2019/2020. Dan’s created a base to show improvement next year coupled with improved S&C and culture. For 2019/2020 he starts brining in top talent. A reclass would be exception to the rule. With Adams and Vital leaving after next season lots of shot attempts to recruit for.
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Quite frankly, this played out exactly as I thought too.

I couldn’t say it at the time, but I made hints that I knew we’d sign 2 new guards and a new big that would leave us “flexibility” moving forward.

It’s EXACTLY as I predicted, also.
 
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